T25 – HIKES & HAMSTRINGS

Yoga: 40 is the new 30

Isn’t Orange the New Black or something like that, according to the hit TV show? If that wasn’t enough, 40 is the new 30. And this post has everything to do with yoga. Random!

Yesterday was the last day of my self-imposed yoga challenge. The deal I had with myself was that I would do 30 yoga or stretch sessions of at least 25 minutes each in 30 days. If I missed a day, then I could double up. This task will be simple, I thought.

I failed at the task. I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I can say I’m disappointed with how it went. Once I started missing days, it was excruciatingly hard to double up! In the end, the 30 day yoga challenge turned into 40 days. Stretching is so important to prevent injury, help recovery and increase mobility and flexibility. I definitely have noticed a difference over the course of the last 40 days, so am I glad I took on the task? Absolutely.

But did it feel like a chore? Absolutely! Difficult in the sense that although I enjoy yoga, once or twice a week is good for me. To schedule stretching or yoga each day tested my ability to just push play. What I’ve learned over the many rounds of P90X and the different Beachbody programs is that variety in the workouts is key, and it’s so important to be able to remain engaged in the fitness journey. I did not feel engaged with my yoga challenge, so it’ll be quite some time before I take on another one.

I noticed, however, that the half-hour-or-less mark seemed perfect, which is why T25 Stretch and Yoga Meltdown 1 had the highest frequencies of plays. I’m even more excited now about P90X3, where all the workouts are 30 minutes long, and the workouts are highly varied.

So lesson learned: days upon days of yoga- maybe not so much for me. But if I have a program in which I can fully engage myself, like P90X (and hopefully P90X3)- then I’m a machine! So stoked.

For posterity, here are the numbers by workout. There’s a reason that P90X’s yoga is at the bottom with the lowest frequency… and full disclosure, I only completed the first half of it. At 90 minutes and many rounds of P90X, I just can’t seem to sit through it anymore. It’s still an amazing DVD though!

Focus T25 Stretch: 15
Yoga Meltdown 1: 6
Stretch X (P90X) or equivalent stretch: 5
Yoga (P90X2), at least 45 minutes: 2
Yoga Meltdown 2: 1
Yoga (P90X), at least 45 minutes: 1

Focus T25: Time for Gamma

So after a very successful Focus T25 round of Alpha and Beta, I decided to take a break. I initiated my yoga and stretch challenge, and all was great for a week! But then I thought- I need to do more. Not surprisingly, I got a bit antsy, and have now doubled up on my activity. Yoga and stretching are still important over the next few weeks as I head into day 10 of the challenge, but on Monday, I decided to start T25’s Gamma round!

Gamma is all about strength. Of course, the usual speed workout and high intensity cardio are still there, but now, many of the moves are done with weights- burpees and weights, balancing with weights, push ups with weights, and the list goes on. I may be tired these days, but I’m loving the amount of fitness activity this fall. Other than generally staying fit and healthy, there is a purpose to rebuilding my muscles, emphasizing stretching and yoga, and attending physiotherapy to get my arm all fixed up (I think I have a case of tennis elbow :S). It’s all in preparation for the new fitness regimen, starting January 2014. Oh there’s a plan… and I can’t wait!

My 30-Day Yoga and Stretch Challenge

One of the items on my list for quite some time has been to complete a 30-day yoga challenge. I always assumed that I would join a yoga studio and dedicate myself to 30 days of Bikram or Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in the company of other yogis where I, too, would be wearing my yoga gear and drinking coconut water. But alas, yoga is expensive. I’m not saying it’s not worth it, but it’s very pricey. And since I let my Bikram yoga passes expire *gasp*, I figured it would be best that I didn’t purchase another block of classes.

With that said, I realize that I am most committed when I have a fitness routine going at home. Ever since I discovered P90X, at-home workouts have kept me on track, and my living room has been the venue of choice. So why should my 30-day yoga and stretch challenge be any different? I’m equipped with an arsenal of fitness videos: P90X yoga, P90X stretch, Jillian Michaels’ Yoga Meltdown, and Focus T25 Stretch. And there are also many online yoga instructional videos if need be. So yesterday was Day 1 of my newest challenge, and I already know that it’s going to make a difference to my fitness once it’s all done.

Focus T25 Complete!

Yesterday was a good day. After starting Beachbody’s and Shaun T’s Focus T25 program several months ago, I finally completed the last week of the Beta phase. To sum up: the program was awesome!

Looking back at my calendar, I began the program on July 15th, and ended on November 10th. The 10 week program took much longer than I had hoped, but I’m okay with this. Hiking was my priority activity throughout the summer, and with visitors and trips, I had to space out the Alpha workouts. Beta began on September 30th, and minus the one week of being sick that I took off, I had a very consistent Beta phase.

Twenty-five minutes a day. That’s all it really took. As the months went on, I noticed my cardio health improving. I was able to do more push-ups. I could stretch out my muscles more and more. And I never became bored. What I loved about the program was how enjoyable I found it (except for Rip’t Circuit, which did not keep me as engaged as some of the other workouts). My favourites: Speed 2.0 and Core Speed. These non-stop heart-pumping workouts always flew by, which makes sense when you’re moving and sweating like crazy for 25 minutes straight. I definitely feel healthier after the program, but admittedly, I don’t see as many physical results as I had hoped. With that said, I did manage to lose some of the post-Ireland pounds that I gained :).

I can’t say I was the best at keeping track of measurements, but I did manage to follow a decent nutrition schedule. My hopes for the next round of fitness: drink more water, get more sleep, increase my caloric intake, and learn to incorporate more variety into my meal preps.You know… same ol’ same ol’ :). And even though the program is over, I’ll continue with the Focus T25 workouts (Gamma phase is most likely next). When there’s a busy schedule, you just can’t beat 25 minutes a day!

Prepping for Focus T25 Beta Week 4

I just took the past week off of Focus T25. Nooooo! All my gains are now lost! Just kidding- I don’t get all flustered when I miss a few days here and there. The most important thing is to listen to your body, especially when cold and flu season is in full swing. That was the case this past Monday, when I awoke feeling a bit off. By the end of the day, body chills had hit me and I was dealing with quite the headache. Since I was going strong for quite some time, I realized that it was my body’s way of saying “slow down!”. It felt good to take a bit of a breather. I had a day and half off of work and basically slept.

But enough! Now that I’m all better, it’s time to get into the right mind set for the 4th week of T25’s Beta phase. And every successful fitness week begins with meal prep. I figured this week I would go simple: bake a bunch of chicken, steam some rice and mixed beans, have a few roasted potatoes, and of course, finish with some raw veggies. 5 lunch boxes; 5 days of the week. It’s time to bring it and get back on schedule :).